


Silver Ties

by koffeebean



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Assassin - Freeform, Chronic Pain, Don't copy to other sites, Dorks in Love, F/F, Fluff, Getting Together, Girls in Love, Happy Ending, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Pining, Pining Rayla, Rayla has chronic pain in her hand, Small bit of angst, Surprise Kiss, argument, discourse over dark magic, hurt rayla, slight whump, wlw relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 03:43:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19265221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/koffeebean/pseuds/koffeebean
Summary: When Rayla got the moonbinding cut from her hand, the pain didn't stop there. Her hand hurt at even the smallest touch - and Claudia wanted to help. But what happens when her idea of help isn't what Rayla had in mind?Where Rayla has chronic pain, Hates Dark Magic, and Claudia finds a better solution.





	Silver Ties

**Author's Note:**

> Okay I started to write this, got distracted for a few months, and now finally finished it. Raydia because why not?

Rayla gripped at her hand. Her very broken, very painful hand. Broken from overworking, sore from the lasting pains that the moonbinding had given her. 

Even after Zym had ripped the binding off her left hand, it continued to give her problems. Pain shooting through her wrist; her bones. Her hand often felt as though a dull throbbing had rested there or as if it was burning, her fingers stung from movement or lifting anything, often feeling numb. Like static. 

Even the slightest touch could end in agony.

She had thought that she just had to ignore it, it would fade in with the ache of exhaustion eventually. Her travelling to Xadia and defending Zym and the boys was far more important than having some pain. Even if having Claudia and Soren around was more secure, she had to prove that she was still needed. She was better than this.

The mage and knight may have been enough protection for them, but she couldn't be thrown away. She  _ couldn't.  _

That must have been what led her to overwork her hand, now more in pain than ever. The throbbing worsened at defending off the giant Woolbats earlier. The Woolbats were Xadian creatures, some choosing to hide at the foot of the mountains this side of the boarder... but not even the relief of almost being in Xadian property could dull the pain this time.

As they set up camp for the night in a small clearing of the woods, Rayla gripped at her hand, tucking it lightly to her chest. 

Weak.

Callum looked over from where he was attempting to start a fire in the middle of the camp, Claudia sitting next to him trying to teach him simple fire spells, to which he was ignoring for the most part being dark magic and all. “Rayla, are you okay?”

Rayla smiled tightly and tried to look okay. “Yep, just thinking. Moonshadow elf thing.”

Claudia glanced up, “Um, I'm pretty sure that thinking is a human thing too?”

While Rayla appreciated the innocence of the statement, she couldn't help but feel deflated. Claudia had tried so hard to accept her as an elf, trying to throw all her thoughts and views that humans had out the window overnight. She was amazing, and she really tried, but Rayla had the feeling that she was keeping something from her.

A secret.

Rayla shook her head, trying to force back tears as her hand gave another  _ twinge _ . “I'm gonna go look for firewood,” she said, turning rapidly so they wouldn't see. She just needed a moment to adjust to this hand. Then she'd be fine.

“We already have firewood,” Ezran said, peeking out of the tent that he was helping Soren set up, but Zym kept trying to tear down. There were two tents, so whenever one was up and they were busy with the next, Zym would have the other one down.

It would have been amusing to watch if Rayla's hand wasn't hurting so much.

“Then I'll look for more,” she managed through gritted teeth as she half walked, half ran into the woods.

She knew there was a river nearby, she heard running water earlier when they were searching for a viable place to sleep for the night. Maybe a bit of cold water would help.

She walked into a small area laden with tall coniferous trees, leaves green and towering above her head. They would have been perfect for climbing and vaulting off of, but her hand…

The river lay a few feet ahead, softly trickling down, away from the direction the mountains were in, and Rayla couldn't keep the small smile from plastering onto her face as she dropped to her knees beside it in the soft grass. Her hand gave no signs of protest as she laid it into the cool river water.

Maybe this could help the pain, and she'd be better in no time.

A few minutes of her sitting in the water lead her to realise two things: one - the water wasn't really making her pain any better, and two - the water was cold as the icy lair of a Evermare. The chill stabbed at her skin, but ultimately did nothing more for her.

Rayla punched the clear water with her good hand and yelled out in anger, the tears that had threatened to fall finally making their path down her cheeks. Her hand was broken, and she couldn't help it, no matter what she did.

She raised the hand in question, looking at it. 

The pain radiated up her forearm, and her hand shook slightly under the pain, completely against her will. She tried to still it, feeling that if she could at least stop the trembling, she could then stop the pain. Her hand continued to shake.

Tears dripped down her chin and she tried to hide them by placing her head onto her knees after she drew them close to her chest.

Her tears must have looked puny to the water of the river gushing past in its steady stream.

“Rayla?” A concerned call echoed to where she sat.

Rayla whipped around, surprise overtaking her face at the sight of Claudia. She was standing by a tree and looked concerned. For her.

“What are you doing”

“Nothing!”

Claudia furrowed her brow as she walked over and sat down next to her, and Rayla quickly darted her eyes to look over the other way, straight ahead at the berry bush across the river. It was obvious that she had been in distress, she knew that, but she roughly wiped the tears away.

Claudia couldn't see her like this. Not now.

Sure her little… infatuation with the other girl was getting stronger with each passing day, especially since the mage had resorted to tying her hair up with shards of grass and vines with flowers. Work with what you've got and all, but it really wasn't doing great things for Rayla's poor old heart.

It was painful to hear herself manage to come up with a blubbering excuse and high tail it out of the camp every time Claudia tied her hair up when she was working on crafting dainty jewellery for the group. Rayla still kept the small earring she made her a week ago, even though she hadn't her ears pierced.

Even now with the pain, her disappearances were becoming more and more frequent. She couldn't use firewood or checking the perimeter as an excuse for much longer…

A hand on her shoulder interrupted her thoughts, and Rayla was forced back into the painful present as she realised that Claudia had her hair tied up again. What was more, she was looking at Rayla with concern glassed in her eyes.

Rayla regretted looking into Claudia's open, green eyes, because now? Now she couldn't look away.

“Rayla. I'm really worried about you.” Claudia darted her eyes down, breaking their prolonged eye contact. “You… have you been crying?”

Rayla jumped back, and quickly looked away, ignoring the twinge in her hand. “Wha- no!”

“It's okay if-”

“I said I wasn't crying,” Rayla growled defensively. “I was just- my eye got dust in it.”

“Both of them?”

Rayla winced, and was suddenly glad that Claudia couldn't see it. “Yeah.”

A sigh. Rayla cautiously turned back to Claudia. 

“Look, I know it's some sort of Moonshadow Elf thing to hide pain and feelings-” a dismissive hand motion on Claudia's part. Rayla narrowed her eyes, suddenly getting ready to defend herself. “-but here you don't have to! We're all human here and we don't judge people for feeling stuff.”

Rayla's blood boiled. “What, you think it's taboo that elves can't  _ feel?”  _ Claudia looked up at her in surprise. “Let me tell you that I  _ can _ , and I'm feeling pissed right now over how you think humans are instantly  _ better _ and more achieved over how ye all cry over each other. Tinker always picked me up when I fell, and I wasn't  _ judged  _ or  _ called out _ because of it.”

“That's not- you know what I mean!”

“Yeah, I know exactly what you meant,” Rayla said, pushing herself up off the grassy bank. “Now was there something you needed?”

Claudia blinked, releasing a sharp breath from her nostrils. “Yeah. I wanted to know why you were hiding yourself away from the team every time your hand started to hurt.”

A moment passed with a pregnant silence.

Claudia seemed to blink as she realised what she had revealed. “I…” she sighed, “Callum told me you had your hand tied tight for a pretty long time. Doesn't take a genius to figure out it would have lasting effects.”

Rayla turned, bringing her still soaked hand into her chest. “And what do you want to do about it, because if I know anything, I'm not going to let you  _ Dark-magic _ the pain away.”

Green eyes narrowed at her. “No. I don't use Dark magic as the solution to  _ everything _ , you know.”

“Dark magic isn't the solution to  _ anything. _ ”

“It healed Soren when he was paralysed!”

“And it kills other innocent creatures and life sources before you're able to do anything with it.” Rayla's nose crinkled and she felt more solid in her stance than ever before.

“Whatever. I wanted to help you, but now I see you won't take it.”

“If your ‘help’ has anything to do with Dark magic, I don't even want it near me.”

“Fine,” Claudia yelled, standing up and storming off in the direction of the camp.

Rayla watched her storm off with a sense of having nothing achieved. “Fine,” the elf breathed, defeated. If Claudia wasn't going to see how evil Dark magic  _ obviously _ was, then she probably never would. And accusing elves of being emotionless shells...

Rayla sat back onto the bank with more vigour than was probably needed, but she didn't care.

Claudia held her affections, but Luna above she could be so stubborn. 

 

× × ×

 

When Rayla returned to the camp, she was surprised when Claudia came up to her, but she quickly smothered any semblance to the emotion.

“Rayla, I have the solution to your pain.”

Rayla blinked. Wasn't she still mad at her over earlier, or had she already forgiven and forgotten… humans were so weird.

Claudia opened her hands with a flourish as she revealed a small silver bracelet, no doubt a human-style plaited design with three strands. It glinted in the late sunlight, but shone only half as bright as Claudia's green eyes which were searching her for any reaction.

Rayla gingerly picked it up, noticing that it was quite light… was that some of her hair weaved into it? 

Now that she looked, Rayla could spot light, white hair was undoubtedly her own, and a dark strand with traces of purple along with a strand of something shiny between them.

Claudia must have seen something on her face because she spoke in an excited tone- “It uses strands of both our hair and a strand of pure silver fabric I had my bag. All I had to do was plait them, and cast a small spell-”

“Woah woah. Dark magic?”

Claudia gave her a stink eye. “No. I asked Callum for some of his elfy Sky magic-” Callum raised a hand proudly from his spot on the log at the other side of the fire- “and used an old scroll Lujanne gave him.” She paused, looking hurt. “You told me earlier you didn't like Dark magic. You didn't think I would still use it, would you?”

Okay, that was unfair. Rayla could only give a vague shrug.

Claudia nervously toed the earth by the campfire with the top of her boot. “I suppose I deserve that.”

Ignoring the pain of seeing Claudia so nervous, Rayla gladly slipped on the small bracelet, trying to smother the blush she could feel creeping onto her cheeks, tightening her stance as she expected something to happen, like the band to tighten and cut off her blood supply and leaving her fighting her own hand until she could find Zym to cut the tie…

It didn't tighten, but thankfully stayed loose on her skin. Unlike the moonbinding.

The bracelet glowed.

It was only for a second before it settled back into its bead of silver, white, black and purple - but it was enough for Rayla to sense the magic. The magic that was not purely Sky magic.

Something else was binding this gift? It certainly didn't quite feel like Dark.

“I can make a different one if you don't like it,” Claudia said, probably taking her hesitant curiosity as negativity and dislike towards the small band.

Rayla shook her head, eyes still fixed on the bracelet. “No, I love it… but there's Moon magic in the band too.”

A pause. “Really?”

Rayla looked up, finally cataloguing the two tents by the fire that had finally been put up, and she found herself wondering where the others were. “Yeah. Moon magic. Probably from my hair strand, though.”

Claudia's eyes were wide with excitement, and a giddy smile was beginning to spread across her face. “Oh. Oh wow.” She grabbed at both sides of Rayla's face, and smooshed a quick kiss onto her lips. Pulling away, she bounced giddily with her hands waving. “This is amazing, you're like a magic detector!”

Frozen, Rayla tuned out most of the girl's voice. Did… did she just… ?

As if only realising her actions, Claudia froze too, looking at Rayla with realisation creeping onto her expression.

Did Claudia just...kiss her?

“That was… unexpected.”

Great. Her ability to stick her foot in her mouth amazed her still to this day.

“Unexpected.” Claudia frowned, pulling back.

What the constellations, Claudia literally kissed her.

Dark magic, murdering, self righteous… Funny, attractive, considerate Claudia.

Rayla sighed internally, and steeled herself as she shut her eyes. So she wouldn't see Claudia’s reaction. “Unexpected but nice?”

A terrifying moment passed when nothing happened, but then she felt a hand under her chin that made her open her eyes again. Claudia was looking at her with awe… and affection?

“I… I’d like to kiss you again. If that would be oka-”

She didn't even get to finish her sentence before Rayla grabbed the chance by the elbow and brought her lips to Claudia’s.

Before, all she could taste was a small tantalising first peck, but now her lips were on hers and tasted them in their full. Like a first sip of lemon balm that you were allowed, before you were given a full brew. 

Exotic, but homely - like the fruit that grew on the border between Xadia and the human kingdoms - and her soft lips were like pressing her mouth against a rose’s petals.

It was familiar and different at the same time, in a way that was just completely Claudia, especially as she swiped a tongue against those lips that had taunted her for so long. Ever since that first meeting in the cave, even if Claudia had been trying to kill them… and nearly had because Rayla was being a lesbian and gotten distracted.

Claudia pulled back, and the kiss was broken sooner than Rayla would have liked, but then she took a deep breath. Yeah, probably for the best that they could still breathe. The human’s hand was still under her chin, and at some point, she had brought her newly fixed hand round to clutch at the fabric of the girl’s dress.

Claudia’s eyes pierced into hers, sparkling in the fire’s glow, and for a moment nothing could break the moment.

Until… - “Okay… I am going to head inside now.” 

Rayla and Claudia whipped their heads to the log on the other side of the fire. Callum got up stiffly, and gave an exaggerated yawn as he stretched his arms. “Yeah, I am feeling so very tired, you know? Gotta be that strange orange I ate.”

He quickly crossed over to his tent beside Soren’s, where the blond was snoring loudly, and paused. “Please try to keep it down, and the PDAs to a minimum so the singles don't feel so lonely.”

He disappeared within, and the girls glanced at each other before they lost it laughing.

Hand? Not sore.

New bracelet with Claudia’s and her hair.

Claudia?

Green eyes sparkled in amusement as she came in for another kiss.

Check.

And maybe even a new girlfriend...

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, love. Poor Callum, a single lad.
> 
> Comments > Kudos
> 
> ♡


End file.
